


life finds a way

by fluorescent_adolescent13



Category: The Prom - Sklar/Beguelin/Martin
Genre: F/F, Jurassic World AU, dinosaurs and lesbians what could possibly go wrong, we love jurassic park in this house
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-28
Updated: 2020-11-16
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:21:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27241111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fluorescent_adolescent13/pseuds/fluorescent_adolescent13
Summary: “We’re supposed to be opening the new exhibit in just under a month and well, we’re having a few issues. Nick Boomer suggested that I come to you for a consultation.”“What species?” Emma asked, her mind filtering through the possibilities. It wasn’t often that they found something new.“Well, one...” Alyssa continued cautiously. “...that we made, technically.”Emma stopped in her tracks, her teasing look turning serious. “You just made a new dinosaur?”-OR a jurassic world au
Relationships: Alyssa Greene/Emma Nolan
Comments: 5
Kudos: 15





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> i've had this idea for a little while. let me know what you think and if you want me to continue!

“Eyes on me!”

Emma stretched a hand out ahead of herself, her palm facing towards the velociraptors that were hopping around below her, waiting impatiently for her next command. She pressed down the clicker in her other hand a few times - using the familiar sound to try and focus their attention on her - but only hummed in discontent as the animals began to grumble in protest.

“Blue! Delta!” Emma called out again, a heavy frown settling onto her face - refusing to budge even as their eyes eventually locked firmly onto her own. It was a look that would strike fear into the heart of any other person on this side of the park. Hell, maybe the entire island. The way that their yellow eyes were fixed on her. Observing. Waiting for her next move. It didn’t faze Emma though. The dull thudding of her heart in her chest was as steady as ever even as she looked down to the dinosaurs. They knew her. But still, they grumbled. “Don’t give me that shit.”

Emma stepped carefully to the right, clicking a few more times as they followed her movement intently. She couldn’t help but let a smile tug at her lips. It was good progress for them. Far better than what she’d been working with in the beginning. She reached into one of the buckets hanging from the side of the railing once she was content with their work, clicking loudly a final time as she threw down some meat as a reward.

“Good,” Emma mumbled to herself. “That’s damn good.”

At least they were well behaved for her on a day that she had an audience, Emma thought as the rustle of someone moving a few feet of her caught her attention. She glanced over to Kevin and then back to the raptors as they finished eating. 

Kevin watched intently at the other end of the platform. He held onto the railing cautiously but refused to move any further. He was fine right where he was. Safe. Even just watching them eat whatever it was - a goat, or some other poor animal - he couldn’t help but think of what they might do to something bigger. Something that they could hunt. So he was comfortable right there, at a distance. His eyes widened as Emma’s hand raised again, commanding their attention once more before dismissing them - the raptors sprinting back into the overgrown bushes at the other side of their paddock. 

He clapped his hands together loudly, unable to help himself. His heart was pounding dreadfully in his chest just at the sight of it all. “You finally did it, huh?”

Emma gave him a sheepish smile. “Yeah, well, you came by on a good day, Kev. It’s not always such a happy ending.”

Kevin hummed in agreement. He had heard some of the horror stories. They hung over the park like a dark cloud. It came with the territory, naturally, but looking at the beady eyes and flexing claws of the raptors made him think that maybe all of the rumours that circulated might just be true. If they were, he never wanted to find out what it was like being in the centre of them.

“What’s it going to take for you to get out of her and let me take you for a drink, Nolan?”

Emma chuckled as she walked past him, bumping his shoulder playfully. “You’re not my type.”

He laughed. “You know what I mean.”

She certainly did. There had been just as many rumours about that too, lingering around her like an omen. There were plenty of people that took an interest in her skills, in her livelihood. But there were plenty of people that wanted to take advantage of it too. Of its possibilities. As far as she was concerned though, it wasn’t up for grabs to the highest bidder.

“You and I both know that’s not going to happen,” Emma replied with a firm shake of her head. “Besides, how can I trust someone with all of this-” She motioned around her. “-when they can’t even look at the pack without sweating like a pig.”

“Y’know,” he tried. He hadn’t expected anything less from the Marine but still, he couldn’t help but self-consciously wipe at his forehead as he followed her down off of the platform. “I’m just going to keep coming back until you humour me.”

“I guess I’ll be seeing a lot more of you then,” Emma gave him a tight smile. “Now, if you’ll excuse me. I have some work to finish.”

* * *

Alyssa grimaced as the heel of her shoe sank down deep into the soft soil below her. She nudged closed the car door with her hip as she adjusted her footing, her eyes already busy scanning the area in front of her. There was only one person that she was looking for - the only person that could bring her somewhere like this, of all places - and the sooner she found the blonde the sooner that she could get out of there and pretend that it never happened. 

It didn’t take long for her gaze to find Emma Nolan.

She was hunched over the engine of her motorbike with a look of concentration on her face that was enough to bend steel. Alyssa paused for a moment, watching as the blonde pushed back her hair from her face. She had gotten it cut since the last time that they’d seen one another. 

“Miss Nolan-” Alyssa called out. 

Emma’s head shot up, a lazy smirk tugging at the corner of her lips as her eyes fell onto the other woman. She reached to the side - twisting the volume knob of her speaker. “I must be in some sort of trouble if you’re here. What have I done this time?”

“Actually, Miss Nolan-”

“I’m definitely in trouble if you’re second naming me...”

“Emma,” Alyssa started again. She could feel the annoyance bubbling beneath the surface just after a few moments with the blonde. Emma always seemed to have that effect on her, whether she liked it or not. “I called security at Enclosure Seven but they said you had already left for the afternoon. I figured looking for you here was my best bet.”

“I’m surprised you remember the way.”

“This is my island, Nolan. I could drive here with my eyes shut,” Alyssa replied sharply, shaking her head. She knew what Emma was insinuating but she didn’t want to humour her for a moment. This was strictly about work. She just had to keep reminding herself of that simple fact - even when Emma had that oh so familiar smug look on her face. It was never going to be easy, Alyssa thought as she opened her mouth again. “I need your help with something.” She couldn’t help but bite. “If you’re not too busy being a smart ass.”

“Well,” Emma shrugged. She pushed herself up to her feet, moving a little closer to the brunette. “I am pretty busy with that.”

“We have an attraction-”

“I’m having a little deja vu-”

“A dinosaur attraction,” Alyssa corrected firmly. She took a deep breath, urging the growing redness in her cheeks to calm. “We have a new species. We’re supposed to be opening the new exhibit in just under a month and well, we’re having a few issues. Nick Boomer suggested that I come to you for a consultation.”

“Do you want that consult out here or inside?”

Alyssa scrunched her nose. “That’s not funny.”

“It’s a little funny.”

“Look, if you don’t want to help-” Alyssa huffed.

Emma sighed. It wasn’t the first time that someone had come looking for something from her. It wasn’t even the first time today. While most of the time she tended to turn whatever obscene offer it was down - this time she was curious. Anything other than a ploy to take advantage of her work tended to do that these days. And working with Alyssa Greene on whatever it was that she wanted? Well, it wouldn’t exactly be a hardship.

“What species?” Emma asked, her mind filtering through the possibilities. It wasn’t often that they found something new.

“Well, one...” Alyssa continued cautiously. “...that we  _ made _ , technically.”

Emma stopped in her tracks, her teasing look turning serious. “You just made a new dinosaur?”

“It’s kind of what we do here,” the brunette replied. “But we didn’t find this one in the amber.”

“Okay,” Emma started. She paused for a moment. She hadn’t been expecting this from the other woman when she saw her stepping out of her car. Working with Alyssa Greene on an exhibit with a dinosaur that the outside world had never seen? Emma didn’t have the words for that, so instead she forced a neutral expression onto her face - trying to disguise any trace of her racing thoughts. “Well, what do you need me for?”

“We’d like you to evaluate the paddock for vulnerabilities.”

Emma frowned, gnawing on the inside of her lip as she nodded along. “And why would you come to me for that?”

“Nick seems to think that since you’re able to control the raptors...” she started but was cut off sharply.

Emma let out a long breath. “It’s always about control with you.” Her eyebrows furrowed deeper as she motioned to herself. “I don’t control the raptors. I don’t control anyone. We have a relationship. It’s based on mutual respect.”

The blonde took a step towards Alyssa, holding her gaze. Alyssa’s breath hitched as she moved a little too close, her eyes drifting across the other woman’s face, as though she thought she might take another step closer. From this distance she could see the gold flecks in Emma’s eyes, her hazel orbs as intense as ever. They were unforgiving in their endeavour to make her heart pound even more fiercely in her chest. Just like the freckles that were spattered across her nose, drawn out by the early afternoon sun that was shining down on them both. And then, Emma leaned back, turning away from the brunette without hesitation. 

Alyssa stuttered. “I, um-”

“That’s why you and I never worked out.”

There was an unwelcome twinge of sadness in her chest as Emma’s words sat heavy in the air between them. It had broken the spell of whatever moment Alyssa had been drawn into by the other woman. Now, there was nothing but sobering reality. 

“Yeah,” Alyssa muttered. “ _ That’s  _ why.”

“Please,” Emma chuckled, already back at her motorbike by the time that Alyssa had collected her thoughts. “I’m a catch.”

Alyssa shook her head, her annoyance coming back with a vengeance as she watched the blonde pick up her tools again. “Right.”

“I, personally, thought that we had a pretty good time together,” Emma replied nonchalantly. “At least once I convinced you to get rid of those heels, and that your diet could go on pause for the night for the sake of a little tequila.” She chuckled to herself, her gaze never meeting Alyssa’s though the brunette stared intently down at her. She could feel Alyssa’s eyes burning into the side of her head. “What kind of diet doesn’t let you have tequila?”

“Most of them actually,” Alyssa shot back.

“Well, what happened after the date made up for it. So I forgive you,” Emma teased. “And before the date too, now that I think about it-”

“Can we get back to business?” Alyssa squeaked, her throat turning dry at the thought of a memory she had been trying desperately not to revisit. “Please.”

“Business,” Emma nodded, pushing down the next laugh that was threatening to creep out. She knew that she wasn’t playing very fair but the least she could get out of this encounter was a little bit of fun. She wiped her hands on her shirt as she got up from the bike again. There wasn’t much for her to think about. “Fine, I’ll do it.”

“I’ll be in the car,” Alyssa replied sharply. “You might want to change before we go. I’m not sure my car will love those grease stains as much as your shirt seems to.”

* * *

Emma watched Alyssa’s every move as the brunette walked a few paces ahead of her, her heels clicking against the metal flooring below them as she rhymed off some of the events that had transpired over the last week or so - filling Emma in on the blanks. The blonde wasn’t doing as much listening as she should have been though. She knew that she would see all that she needed to know as soon as she got her eyes on the enclosure. The biology and chemistry of it all that Alyssa spoke so eloquently about had never been something that Emma could quite get her head around. The animals though? She could understand them in an instant, and in her experience that was what seemed to matter most.

_ If I make it that long, that is _ , Emma couldn’t help but think as her eyes wandered down the long line of Alyssa’s legs, slipping past the hem of her skirt. 

“We’ve been pre-booking the tickets for months,” Alyssa said. “The park needs a new attraction every couple of years in order to keep the public interested and coming back. Corporate decided that we should look into genetic modification to up the ‘wow’ factor-”

“They’re dinosaurs. That’s ‘wow’ enough,” Emma replied incredulously.

“Well, not according to our focus groups...” Emma’s attention drifted away from the brunette again as she took in the space around her. There were workmen everywhere, scaffolding as high as the eye could see. Things were already in full swing. It seemed a little late to start worrying about whether or not there were issues with the place. “...the Indominus Rex-”

“The Indominus Rex?” Emma cut in, letting out a small laugh at the absurdity of the name. It sounded like something out of a sci-fi movie or a comic book.

“We needed something that was...scary, and easy for everyone to pronounce,” Alyssa shrugged, pushing back a loose curl from her face as she glanced back to the blonde. She stopped finally as they reached a large metal door, wiping her hand gingerly on her skirt before she typed her passcode onto the screen in front of her with a quick flick of her wrist. Her eyes flickered back to Emma again as the door buzzed open. “You should hear a little kid trying to say ‘Archaeornithomimus’.”

“You should hear you trying to say it,” Emma muttered. She followed Alyssa through the door, watching as the brunette gave the security man by the door a curt nod - taking a file from his desk as she passed him by. Emma followed her cautiously. She drifted over to the windows on the other side of the room. It gave them a complete view of the paddock and Emma’s eyes were already combing through the layers of bushes and trees ahead of her - overgrown and wild, and most likely shielding the Indominus completely from sight. It wasn’t unusual but it didn’t make it any less unsettling. “So what’s this thing made of?”

“The base genome is a T. Rex.,” Alyssa replied. “And the rest is...classified.”

“You made a new dinosaur but you don’t even get to know what’s in it?”

“The lab delivers us finished assets and we deliver them to the public,” she replied. Emma chuckled. It was a rehearsed answer from the Park Operations Manager. Alyssa called out to the security guard. “Can we drop a steer, please?”

“How long has the animal been in there for?”   


“All of her life,” Alyssa replied. She took a file from the desk pressed up against the wall before heading towards Emma. 

Emma nodded. “And she’s never been out?”

Alyssa snorted. She flicked the file open, scanning over the documents inside and missing the look on Emma’s face that was growing more serious by the second. “We can’t exactly get a leash on her and take her out for a walk around the park, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“And you feed her from that?” Emma asked plainly. She pointed up to the crane that had begun to descend down into the paddock and Alyssa looked up again.

The brunette looked between the crane and the woman beside her, her eyebrows furrowing as a deep sense of worry sunk deep into her stomach. The blonde’s expression told her more than she needed to know. It wasn’t a look that she was at the receiving end of often. “Is there a problem here?”

Emma shrugged. “Animals that are raised in isolation sometimes aren’t the most functional, that’s all.”

“And your raptors are what, Nolan? Social butterflies?”

“They have siblings. They have each other,” Emma nodded. “And they have me. So, they’ve developed the necessary social skills. They have relationships with things other than machines that only appear when and if she’s being fed. It’s the only positive relationship that she has.”

“So, what?” Alyssa asked. “She needs a friend? A companion?”

Emma shook her head, her tone low. “Probably not a good idea.”

Alyssa took another few steps forward until she was shoulder to shoulder with Emma, following the blonde’s gaze as it turned from her and back to the trees again. She rested her palm against the glass and watched intently for a few moments as the crane reached the very bottom - the cattle on the end of it remaining untouched for longer than she’d ever seen one be in a dinosaur paddock. There was no sign of the Indominus at all. 

It was almost as though the enclosure was completely empty. 

“Where is she?” Alyssa mumbled. “I was just here.”

The brunette turned away suddenly, making a beeline for one of the tablets set up by the window. She flicked through a few things before drawing up the feed of the various cameras they had stationed around the space, looking for any sign of the animal at all. She looked up to the screens on the wall for a better view, pressing another button, but the same reading came up on every single screen. 

No thermal signature detected on any of the cameras. 

“That doesn’t make any sense,” the security guard frowned. “These doors haven’t been open for weeks. There’s no way in or out of here.”

“Have those scratches always been there?” Emma asked, her eyes scanning up one of the walls of the enclosure. They were tall - maybe forty or fifty feet. Taller than the dinosaur by far but not necessarily tall enough to keep the thing in if it wanted out. Emma squinted, trying to study it further.

She needed to get down there.

“What?” Alyssa asked, returning to Emma’s side again. She didn’t wait for the blonde’s answer though - seeing exactly what she was referring to. Alyssa’s face grew pale. “Oh my god. You don’t think-?” Emma could practically see the cogs turning in the other woman’s head, spinning a mile a minute. Not trying to figure it out, but instead searching desperately for a reason that her suspicions were incorrect. That she was wrong. She straightened up suddenly, a steely look crossing her eyes. “She has an implant in her back. I can track it from the control centre.”

Before Emma knew it, the brunette was gone with a promise to call her with an update as soon as she knew anything. Emma cleared her throat and looked to the security guard. 

“I have to get down there.”

He nodded, his face paler than Alyssa’s had been. Emma wasn’t sure he’d seen much of the enclosure outwith the camera feed in front of him and the windows up a head. She wasn’t sure he had done anything other than sit at his station from nine to five. He stood up straight though, leading her back in the direction she had come and through a small side entrance to the paddock - letting the blonde go through first and take the lead as he followed cautiously behind. 

Emma’s eyes darted around the space as she took her first steps inside, still scanning through the leaves to make sure that they hadn’t made the wrong choice. There was a maintenance worker ahead of them though. If he hadn’t been attacked by something by now, maybe they stood half a chance. The thought of the Indominus being loose in the park though wasn’t something that she wanted to consider either. 

The scratches were deep into the concrete wall. Emma brushed her hand down the length of one before stepping back slightly and looking up to the top. It was a long way to climb. 

“That wall’s forty feet high,” the maintenance worker commented. “Do you really think that she could have climbed out of here?”

“It depends.”

“On what?”

Emma took a deep breath. “On what kind of dinosaur it was that they cooked up in that lab.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for all of your support and for reading! hope everyone is doing okay in these crazy times

Alyssa’s hand shook as fished in her pocket for her car keys, opening the door eventually and sliding behind the wheel before she could think twice about it. Muscle memory started the car and took her back in the direction that she had come from earlier. At least if she were back in the control room she would be able to see everything more clearly, have all of the information. She would be able to understand how the hell something like this could have happened. 

There was a dinosaur on the loose,  _ somehow _ , and they had to find her again before it was too late. 

Alyssa couldn’t let herself think of what would happen if they didn’t. She glanced away from the road for a moment, unlocking her phone as she searched for a familiar contact. She bypassed a handful of missed calls that she had from Kaylee in the process. Alyssa really had been meaning to spend more time with her cousin and her wife while they were visiting but between the new enclosure and Tom Hawkins breathing down her neck about operations over the past few days, she just hadn’t found the time. She would though, she would promise herself with every message that she left unanswered, but the likelihood of that happening was growing slimmer and slimmer by the minute.

“There is an asset out of containment. Get AC on alert. This is not a drill,” the brunette called down the phone, waiting for an affirmative answer before she hung up and dialled another number. “Trent! I’m on my way back. Can you get me the coordinates for the Indominus?”

“No problem,” he replied. She waited for a few moments, listening intently to the faint sound of his keyboard in the background and willing herself not to grow any more panicked than she already was. “She’s in her cage.”

“No,” Alyssa squeaked out. She turned a corner sharply, feeling every bump of the dirt track below her. She wasn’t too far away now. “That’s impossible. I was just there. She isn’t in there.”

“I’m telling you, Alyssa. She’s in the cage,” Trent continued, failing to pick up on her tone. “Wait...there are people in there-”

Alyssa’s breath hitched in her throat. This couldn’t be happening. That would mean... “Get them out of there. Now!”

She heard another voice on the line, a little further away than Trent. “Paddock 11, do you copy?...Paddock 11-?”

“Will someone tell me what the hell is happening?” Alyssa shouted down the line.

She slammed on the breaks as she neared the building, gaining a few concerned looks from the people around her, and pulled in sharply. She would just have to see for herself.

* * *

There was a crackling of a radio next to here and then the next minute that she knew, Emma was running as fast as her legs would carry her away from the Indominus Rex. There was only one thought on her mind as she watched the door on the other side of the paddock begin to close rapidly. She was not going to die today. 

She could make it. She just had to-

Emma twisted to the side, slipping through the tiny space that was left between the wall and the door. She could hear the pounding of the Indominus’ steps behind her and the roar of wood cracking as the beast squeezed through behind her, but Emma refused to let herself look back. The feeling of the ground shaking beneath her feet was as close to death as she wanted to feel today, she had no intention of solidifying the idea of staring her maker right in the ten inch teeth.

Her eyes searched desperately ahead of her for some form of refuge in the open landscape, but her choices were limited - only a couple of portacabins and scaffolding, but if the gate behind her was anything to go by then the Indominus would rip those to shreds in a matter of moments. 

A car.

She could work with that.

Emma dropped to the ground, using the momentum of her sprint to help her slide across the gravel and underneath one of the parked trucks by the building sight. She was just hidden from sight and no more. She twisted onto her stomach to get a better view - unintentionally holding her breath as the dinosaur’s claws passed across her line of vision. She couldn’t bring herself to look any further than that though. She didn’t want to see its teeth and she certainly didn’t want to see its eyes. Or at least, she didn’t want its eyes seeing her. 

The maintenance man that she had just been with a few minutes earlier was on the other side of the side. Emma’s eyes latched onto him as she followed the Indominus’ path. He’d had the same idea as her but instead of rolling beneath the truck, he was curled up in a ball in front of the hood - clutching the cross around his neck desperately as he whimpered out a quiet prayer. Emma grimaced. He’d seemed like a decent enough guy. 

The Indominus stopped a few feet away from him, sniffing around for a moment or two by one of the wheels. 

And then, suddenly, its claws swiped at the truck - throwing it across the space as though it were nothing at all. Like swatting a nuisance of a fly that had gotten in the way of its dinner. Emma shielded her eyes as broken glass flew her way. The car flipped a few times before smashing to a halt just a few feet away from her. She opened her eyes again just as the man looked over to her.

By that time, it was already too late. The dinosaur’s jaws clamped around him, teeth snapping shut and silencing any attempt at a scream that he could make. 

Emma twisted around onto her back again. She had seen more than she needed to to know that there wasn’t a chance in hell that she was going to fall victim to the same fate. She wasn’t about to get eaten too. She wasn’t going to die today. She reached into the pocket by her right thing and pulled out a pen knife, thanking God that she had it on her as she flicked it open. She reached up into the truck above her, wrapping her fingers around a tube and yanking it down sharply - slicing the rubber casing open with her other hand. 

The contents spilled down onto her. The smell of petrol burned her nostrils but she didn’t care. It was the only shot that she had of making it out in one piece. Emma spread it out over her henley and down her khakis, rubbing it into every patch of bare skin that she could reach. 

And then the ground began to shake again.

The Indominus stomped towards her, coming closer to the car before pausing once again. It was like deja vu. Its snout dipped beneath the bed of the truck and it sniffed around again, as though searching for any sign at all that there was something there. It was smart. Too damn smart for just a dinosaur, Emma thought. Or maybe it was no dinosaur at all. Who the hell knew what they were cooking up in their lab. 

Emma could hear the dripping of blood from its mouth hitting against the gravel but she squeezed her eyes shut even tighter, turning her head to the side and holding in a breath.

The animal growled, and snarled, and just for a second Emma thought that she was a goner. 

That this was going to be the end for her. That she would never get to go home again. That she would never get to see her grandmother again.

That she would never get to see Alyssa Greene again.

And then, all of a sudden, the Indominus let out an almighty roar before continuing on its way. 

Emma clamped a hand against her mouth, quieting the breath that came shuddering out. She couldn’t believe that it had worked. That last thought though was maybe one that she should keep to herself, Emma thought. She knew one thing though.

She had to get to Alyssa now.

* * *

Alyssa squeezed her eyes shut. She let out a long breath as she waited for the elevator doors to open, willing her hands to stop shaking before she had to go out there and face everyone. All she had was a few more moments of worry before she had to compose herself completely. They would all be waiting for her. Hanging on every word of guidance that she had to offer them. Alyssa wasn’t even sure what she was supposed to say. 

This was the type of thing that happened in handbooks, not in real life. 

The metal door in front of her slid open a few seconds later and in that instant all heads in the room turned to her, their keen eyes searching her expression for any more information than they already had. Alyssa remained as neutral as she could. She had to. 

Another deep breath.

“Everyone remain calm,” Alyssa heard herself saying, her voice emerging in a practiced calm. “We have the situation under control. Everything is going to be okay.”

The room seemed darker than it usually did but it might have just been in her head. The screens seemed dimmer than usual, almost like a digital flag flying at half mast, and usually bustling space was a shadow of its former self. The screens covering the wall opposite to her were as clear as ever though - the data plastered across them covering everything from heat maps to camera feeds around the park, to population counters and all other statistics that they needed at the drop of a hat. It was everything that Alyssa could possibly need right now - she just had to get past everyone else first. 

Alyssa’s eyes flickered from desk to desk, occasionally catching the gaze of an employee. They all looked at her expectantly but she had nothing else to give them. A handful were consoling each other. She didn’t want to think about what else had happened in the time since she had left her car. She didn’t want to consider the fact that they might just have lost more people. Alyssa grimaced. No matter what happened from there on out, that was the dark cloud that was going to hang over today forever. They had already lost some of their own.

It could never be made right, Alyssa knew that. But they could stop it from getting worse. She could fix it. 

She took a few more steps in the direction of the main console, her eyes focusing instead on the screens ahead of her - looking for any information that she might have missed, or more importantly the red moving dot in the centre of the map. The brunette didn’t have to be told that it was the Indominus’ tracker. It was the same symbol that they used for any of the animals, only this time it wasn’t where it was supposed to be. She stopped at Trent’s desk. 

“The implant will shock her if she gets too close to any perimeter fencing,” Alyssa said, desperately urging her voice to stay steady. She crossed her arms to hide her hands. She hadn’t been so lucky in subduing those.

“She’s moving fast,” Trent replied. “Covering a lot of ground.”

“This is control,” Sheldon, another worker, said suddenly from the desk beside Trent’s, touching a finger to the coms in his ear. “Put out a park wide aler-”

Alyssa’s head snapped around as a painfully familiar voice called out from behind her.

“Hang up the damn phone right now,” Tom Hawkins, the owner of the park, growled as he pointed a finger sharply towards Sheldon. 

The other man squeaked and nodded profusely. He cleared his throat, continuing on. “Sorry, I’m receiving some new information. Stand down. It was a false alarm.”

Alyssa winced. She had been in and out of a dozen different meetings with Hawkins all through the week and today was the day that he was supposed to leave the island. Alyssa had hoped that it would all go smoothly. That he would be satiated by her achievements and competency in running the park in his absence and that would be the end of it. It was just her luck, the brunette thought, that something like this would happen under her watch while he was still here. That this would be the time that everything fell apart. 

Hawkins moved towards the group. “Let Asset Containment deal with the situation quietly. The very existence of the park is predicated on our ability to deal with instances just like this.” He let out a long, steady breath and he thought, before waving a hand haphazardly and turning away again. “It was an eventuality.”

Trent snorted. He muttered under his breath, just low enough that Sheldon and Alyssa could still hear his words. “You should put that in the brochure for the place. ‘Eventually one of these cool monsters that you’re looking at might just break out and eat you’.”

Alyssa brushed off the comment. Hawkins’ words hadn’t made her feel any better. She focused her attention back on the screen ahead of her again, her eyes scanning carefully across the map. “She’s still about four miles away from the nearest attraction. If we close everything up there now, we can call it maintenance work and let AC handle this under the radar. We can open up by late afternoon and nobody else will get-”

“-eaten?”

Alyssa huffed. She ran a hand through her curls, pushing them back away from her face. It was all going to be fine. She could fix this.

* * *

Emma could feel her heart still pounding against her rib cage. Even as she waited for the elevator doors to open, begging it to settle, she thought that it was going to burst clean out of her chest. It felt as though she had been there for hours, watching the tiny screen above the door change numbers as she dropped from one floor to the next. Still, despite her impatience, she knew that she would rather be stuck there all day than be back out there again - stuck beneath a car and praying for her life. Sure, she’d had a couple of close calls with the raptors but Emma had never-

She exhaled. 

Their men had died. 

The fact was plain and simple, and it hurt.

Emma shifted from one foot to the other, her nerves jittery. She could feel the adrenaline still chugging throughout her body. As soon as the doors in front of her opened again, her eyes locked onto the curly haired brunette that was stationed at the other side of the room. 

Emma made a beeline for Alyssa - bypassing the security guard that had a request for her credentials at the tip of his tongue. She had only ever been in the control room a handful of times since she had begun working on the island. It had never been necessary. But even so, it felt as familiar as ever - screens stretching across the walls like something from a sci-fi movie, and blueprints and data and maps as far as the eye could see. 

Emma only had eyes for Alyssa though.

“What the hell happened there?” Emma called out. Alyssa spun around immediately at the sound of the blonde’s voice and for a moment Emma found herself ready to crumble at the way the other woman’s steely expression faltered. Emma took another step closer, shrugging off the guard’s firm grip on her forearm. “There are thermal cameras all over that paddock. She did not just disappear.”

Alyssa swallowed harshly. Up until the moment that she heard Emma’s voice, she had no idea if the blonde were even alive. She hadn’t let herself consider the worst. She waved a hand passively and the guard stood down. “It’s okay.”

Emma yanked her arm back. Her voice grew quiet. “What happened Alyssa?”

The brunette shook her head. She took a breath to settle herself again. Her gaze dropped to the ground. It was hard to look Emma in the eye without the last of her resolve cracking. “There must have been some sort of technical malfunction.”

Emma scoffed. She was so sick and tired of answers that only skated around the truth. The fact of the matter was that they had an animal on the loose that had the capacity to kill them all without hesitation, and if it weren’t for the guilt that dripped off of Alyssa’s every word, Emma would have though that none of them seemed to care at all. It made her chest ache. 

“You were there,” Emma pushed, searching for Alyssa's gaze. “She marked up that wall as some sort of distraction. You saw the scratches too.” She shook her head, still in disbelief. “She could have killed me the minute that I stepped into that enclosure but she didn’t. She wanted us to think that she had escaped and you know what? She did.”

Alyssa’s breath caught in her throat as the blonde drew closer - her authoritative tone booming through the space. She shook her head at Emma’s words, brushing off the notion. At least one of them had to remain level-headed. The last thing that they needed was a complete shutdown of operations, or fear - regardless of how quickly it was building within her.

“Hold on,” Alyssa replied, reaching out a hand to placate the other woman. She wasn’t about to get dragged into whatever panic Emma Nolan was trying to stir up. She could make this all right. She just needed time. “We’re talking about an animal here-”

“A highly intelligent animal,” Emma corrected her.

Sheldon’s voice piped up before either of them had a chance to continue. “Five hundred metres to the beacon.”

“To the...?” Emma asked, her eyebrows furrowing.

All eyes turned back to the screen again. There were a handful of new camera feeds that hadn’t been there before, replacing the usual streams of enclosures and buildings scattered around the park. Some were inside of a truck, others placed on the hood to show the vehicles surroundings. Emma’s eyes flickered across the display, trying to piece together the new information. There were images of heart rate monitors to the left, all currently beating steadily and accompanied by an ID photograph that no doubt, Emma thought, matched with one of the passengers in the truck. 

It seemed to come together all at once for her. 

“You’re going after her with non-lethals?” Emma murmured as the men came to a sudden halt, her view filled with feeds from the body cams on each of their vests. There was a flash of a weapon here and there as the men rallied. 

Hawkins nodded profusely. “We have upwards of twenty-six million dollars invested in that asset. We can’t just kill it.”

“ _ Her _ ,” Alyssa muttered. 

“Those men are going to die,” Emma said abruptly, reaching out to tug on Alyssa’s hand - desperately trying to get at least her to listen.

“ _ Three hundred meters to the beacon _ .”

“You need to call off this mission right now.”

“ _ They’re right on top of her _ .”

Emma’s throat went dry as she watched each of the men power forward into the forest. There was nothing that she could do to stop them. Nothing that she could do to save them. She looked to Alyssa again, searching the other woman for...anything. Her voice was firm when she tried again. “Call it off now!”

Alyssa yanked her hand back as though she had been burned. “You’re not in control here, Nolan.”

The Commander on the screen took another few steps forward before stopping to kneel down by a small brook, something catching his attention. He reached out, picking up a chunk of...something. Emma squinted as she tried to make out exactly what it was but as soon as he spoke, she knew. 

“The blood hasn’t clotted yet,” the Commander said through the crackling of his radio. “It’s still close by.”

“What is that?” Trent questioned.

Emma shook her head. It was impossible. “It’s her tracking implant. She must have clawed it out.”

Alyssa replied. “How would she even know how to do that?”

“Because she remembered where they put it in.”

Emma flinched as the sound of a familiar roar echoed throughout the room. They watched helplessly as the dull stomps of the Indominus’ followed, each feed only capturing a glimpse of the animal here and there as they began to combat it. The blonde knew that it was no use though. They were dead from the moment that they had stepped out of their trucks. She winced as one of the heart rate monitors went flat. Alyssa had to look away completely. If she had thought that they sight was too much for her though, the shock of the raw sound of the unit’s terror sent a sharp stab directly through her soul. 

The men jabbed at the dinosaur with their tasers, firing out a net to stun it, but they barely even made a dent. 

Another monitor went flat.

They tried again. And again. But nothing worked. Its jaws clamped around another officer, its tail swiping another two away in the process as a sickening crunch of bones sounded. 

A growl. A roar. Another monitor went flat.

And another.

And another.

The room grew silent as they all watched in the horror as the unit was decimated one by one. Alyssa thought that she was going to pass out for a moment, reaching out to one of the desks beside her to keep herself upright. She was reluctant to look up again. When she eventually did, Enna was staring at her with a look that cut straight through her heart.

“Evacuate the island.”

**Author's Note:**

> please leave me a review if you want to see some more or have any thoughts - i love to hear it!


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